Are pupils' 'Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA)' scores associated with a nation's fish consumption?

Aims: Omega-3 fatty acids are essential for neurodevelopment. Fish is a major source of these essential nutrients. We asked whether a nation's fish consumption is associated with its pupils' PISA scores as measures of school achievement, independent of economic status and breastfeeding.

Searching for Real-World Effectiveness of Health Care Innovations: Scoping Study of Social Prescribing for Diabetes.

Background: Social prescribing is a process whereby primary care patients are linked or referred to nonmedical sources of support in the community and voluntary sector. It is a concept that has arisen in practice and implemented widely in the United Kingdom and has been evaluated by various organizations.

Objective: The aim of our study was to characterize, collate, and analyze the evidence from evaluation of social prescribing for type 2 diabetes in the United Kingdom and Ireland, comparing information available on publicly available websites with the published literature.

Decentering the Self? Reduced Bias in Self- vs. Other-Related Processing in Long-Term Practitioners of Loving-Kindness Meditation.

Research in social neuroscience provides increasing evidence that self and other are interconnected, both on a conceptual and on an affective representational level. Moreover, the ability to recognize the other as "like the self" is thought to be essential for social phenomena like empathy and compassion. Meditation practices such as loving-kindness meditation (LKM) have been found to enhance these capacities.

Mindfulness-Based Intervention Does Not Influence Cardiac Autonomic Control or the Pattern of Physical Activity in Fibromyalgia During Daily Life: An Ambulatory, Multimeasure Randomized Controlled Trial.

Objectives: Fibromyalgia (FM) is a syndrome characterized by severe pain, fatigue and sleep disturbance. There is evidence of central hyper-responsiveness to sensory stimulation and impaired cardiovascular autonomic control. Laboratory investigations suggest that mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) may improve autonomic functioning in FM.

Expectations affect psychological and neurophysiological benefits even after a single bout of exercise.

The study investigated whether typical psychological, physiological, and neurophysiological changes from a single exercise are affected by one's beliefs and expectations. Seventy-six participants were randomly assigned to four groups and saw different multimedia presentations suggesting that the subsequent exercise (moderate 30 min cycling) would result in more or less health benefits (induced expectations). Additionally, we assessed habitual expectations reflecting previous experience and beliefs regarding exercise benefits.

Outcomes from a three-arm randomized controlled trial of frequent immersion in thermoneutral water on cardiovascular risk factors.

Background: Cardiovascular diseases are a main cause of mortality worldwide. Spa bathing and immersion in thermoneutral water (ITW) have a long history in the treatment of cardiovascular risk factors.

Methods: We conducted a three-arm parallel-group, randomized controlled study to investigate the effects of frequent ITW on moderately elevated blood pressure (BP).

The development of tumours under a ketogenic diet in association with the novel tumour marker TKTL1: A case series in general practice.

Since the initial observations by Warburg in 1924, it has become clear in recent years that tumour cells require a high level of glucose to proliferate. Therefore, a ketogenic diet that provides the body with energy mainly through fat and proteins, but contains a reduced amount of carbohydrates, has become a dietary option for supporting tumour treatment and has exhibited promising results. In the present study, the first case series of such a treatment in general practice is presented, in which 78 patients with tumours were treated within a time window of 10 months.

Scientific proving of ultra high dilutions on humans.

Background: Homeopathic drug provings or pathogenetic trials (HPTs) are the pillar of homeopathy. This review summarizes the authors' findings and interpretations derived from a series of homeopathic drug proving between 1994 and 2015. It gives an overview over a series of attempts to use modern scientific experimental methodology to answer the question, whether such HPTs produce symptoms in healthy volunteers that can be distinguished from placebo symptoms.

Meditation and attention: A controlled study on long-term meditators in behavioral performance and event-related potentials of attentional control.

Meditation practice involves attention regulation, and thus is thought to facilitate attention control mechanisms. Studies on meditation techniques using a behavioral measurement of the Attention Network Test (ANT) have shown enhanced attention control, but neural features remain unknown. In the present study, event-related potentials (ERPs) and behavioral data from twenty long-term meditators were examined, compared to data obtained from twenty matched controls.

Does a Healing Procedure Referring to Theta Rhythms Also Generate Theta Rhythms in the Brain?

Background/objectives: ThetaHealing® (Vianna Stibal, Kalispell, MT) is a spiritual healing method in which the practitioner and client engage in joint meditations during several healing sessions. It is claimed that these meditation periods are characterized by a "theta state" in which the presence of theta-waves in the electroencephalograph (EEG) frequency spectrum of both the healer and the client is supposed. This study sought to test this hypothesis as well as the presence of synchronicities in the two EEGs.

Using a matrix-analytical approach to synthesizing evidence solved incompatibility problem in the hierarchy of evidence.

Objectives: The hierarchy of evidence presupposes linearity and additivity of effects, as well as commutativity of knowledge structures. It thereby implicitly assumes a classical theoretical model.

Study Design And Setting: This is an argumentative article that uses theoretical analysis based on pertinent literature and known facts to examine the standard view of methodology.

Manual khalifa therapy improves functional and morphological outcome of patients with anterior cruciate ligament rupture in the knee: a randomized controlled trial.

Rupture of the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is a high incidence injury usually treated surgically. According to common knowledge, it does not heal spontaneously, although some claim the opposite. Regeneration therapy by Khalifa was developed for injuries of the musculoskeletal system by using specific pressure to the skin.

The omega-6/omega-3 ratio and dementia or cognitive decline: a systematic review on human studies and biological evidence.

It has been suggested that the intake of certain fatty acids may influence the risk of dementia. However, current reviews have focused only on the therapeutic effects of omega-3 fatty acids, mostly as supplements. To date, the evidence for the relevance of the omega-6/omega-3 ratio has been neglected.

Midlife obesity and dementia: meta-analysis and adjusted forecast of dementia prevalence in the United States and China.

Objective: Obesity is a risk factor of dementia. Current forecasts of dementia prevalence fail to take the rising obesity prevalence into account.

Design And Methods: Embase and Medline were searched for observational studies on the association between overweight (BMI 25-30 kg/m(2)) or obesity (BMI > 30 kg/m(2)) and dementia and pooled the effect sizes by meta-analysis.

The combined effects of healthy lifestyle behaviors on all cause mortality: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Objective: Lifestyle factors are related to mortality. Although much is known about the impact of single factors, the current evidence about the combined effects of lifestyle behaviors on mortality has not yet been systematically compiled.

Method: We searched Medline, Embase, Global Health, and Somed up to February 2012.

Zinc diet and Alzheimer's disease: a systematic review.

Objectives: This paper reviews evidence of an association between zinc (Zn) nutrition and Alzheimer's disease (AD) or age-associated cognitive decline. The involvement of zinc in the pathology of AD has been reported hundreds of times. It is, however, still a matter of debate whether the disease progression can be influenced by modifying zinc in the diet.

Selenium and Alzheimer's disease: a systematic review.

Preventing Alzheimer's disease (AD) would require knowledge about its etiology to a degree of detail not yet available. The major hurdle in understanding the disease lies in teasing out the various causes and their complex interactions. Since considerable data have accrued showing that the essential trace element selenium (Se) might play different roles in the progression of AD, we conducted a systematic review of the literature regarding Se and AD.